1. Field of the Invention
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/733,984 filed Dec. 12, 2000 now U.S. Pat No. 7,084,919. The entire disclosure(s) of the prior application(s), application No.(s) 09/733,984 is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a portable terminal, and more particularly to a small-sized portable terminal for compactly realizing various functions of a telephone, a TV telephone, a digital camera, a digital video camera, a pen input terminal and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
A portable terminal is a small-sized device having a processing function of communication, image and information, convenient to carry and excellent in portability.
As the conventional portable terminal widely used in the public, there are communication terminals and information terminals of, for example, a portable telephone, a PHS, a TV telephone, a digital camera, a digital video camera, and a pen input system.
Recently, a portable terminal provided with some of these functions has made an appearance. In this method, since some functions are provided in one device, it is not necessary to carry several kinds of portable terminals and the portability that is the aim of a portable terminal is improved.
Further, since many units and functions are commonly required in a plurality of portable terminals, when a plurality of functions are provided in one terminal, the common units can be shared and the terminal can be provided with a plurality of functions without losing the characteristic of a light and small portable terminal.
Thus, if a portable terminal provided with a plurality of functions is compared with the method of having individual portable terminals of various functions, it is effective in decreasing the power consumption with superiority in the maintenance and portability, and further decreasing the manufacturing cost and the purchase price since the common unit can be shared.
As an example of the conventional portable terminal with a plurality of functions, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Laid-Open (Kokai) No. Heisei 06-292195, where a portable terminal, provided with a liquid crystal monitor, a CCD camera, a speaker and a communication function, for realizing functions of a portable telephone and a portable TV telephone is proposed.
A portable TV telephone by the conventional portable terminal including a portable terminal of the Japanese Patent Publication Laid-Open (Kokai) No. Heisei 06-292195 generally adopts a form of setting a CCD camera adjacent to a liquid crystal monitor on the same surface of the liquid crystal monitor of the portable terminal.
Thus, while a user watches a received image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor, the CCD camera set adjacent to the liquid crystal monitor can take an image of the own face to send the same image to a communication party, thereby realizing a function of a portable TV telephone.
Further, a lot of the conventional portable terminals, including the portable terminal of the Japanese Patent Publication Laid-Open (Kokai) No. Heisei 06-292195, adopt a method of providing with a flip unit of the same area as (or a little less than) that of the main unit itself of the portable terminal and connecting both the flip unit and the main unit by a movable axial unit in a way of opening and shutting like a shell. In this case, since the main unit of the portable terminal is supported by hand, generally operation buttons are mainly provided on the main unit and a liquid crystal monitor is provided on the flip unit.
In this form, when the flip unit and the main unit are closed, there is a space in no contact with the outward, inside both the units, where the liquid crystal monitor and various operation buttons can be disposed. Therefore, by closing it in compact at a time of no use, it is possible to prevent damage to the liquid crystal monitor and a malfunction of the operation buttons, thereby realizing excellent portability.
The conventional portable terminal as mentioned above has the following problems.
First, though there are a lot of advantages in adopting the method of providing one portable terminal with a plurality of functions such as a telephone, a TV telephone, a digital camera, a digital video camera, a pen input terminal and the like, the conventional portable terminal can combine only two or three functions. Especially, it is impossible to realize a portable terminal capable of combining all the above-mentioned functions.
This is because if a plurality of functions are provided within one small and light portable terminal, the circuitry and structure of a device becomes too complicated and the operational performance is too deteriorated to solve faults.
Second, though a use of sending various images such as scenes and substances from a visiting place is required as a function of a portable TV telephone, making good use of the portability of the portable terminal, a portable TV telephone by the conventional portable terminal is very inconvenient for picking up an image other than a user's own face.
This is because only one CCD camera is provided adjacent to a liquid crystal monitor on the same surface of the liquid crystal monitor of the main unit in the conventional portable terminal. In order to pick up an image other than a user's own face such as a scene nearby, it is necessary to change the direction of a photographic lens.
If the direction is changed, a user cannot see the display on the liquid crystal monitor. Since the focus of the above-mentioned CCD camera is set at a position near the lens suitable for picking up a face image, in order to pick up a scene nearby, a liquid monitor is necessarily referred to, so as to adjust the focus of the lens.
Third, in the above-mentioned conventional portable terminal where a flip unit is connected to a main unit in a movable way, the main unit and the flip unit are desired to be directed toward the suitable direction for executing various functions, in executing various functions of the portable terminal such as a telephone, a TV telephone, a digital camera, a digital video camera, a pen input terminal and the like. The conventional portable terminal, however, can operate only in a way of opening and closing the flip unit and the main unit, and it cannot be adjusted in the other directions flexibly.